An old linguistics researcher is ousted from his university position on the frontier of a small island he acculturated. Upon his return home, he begins to believe that he and his life's work are marginal.

When a man visits an old village called Ain Tadouirt to visit an old friend and conduct research, he becomes captured by a tribe and forced to entertain. He must figure out how to escape a life of enslavement in a foreign land.

A teacher on the Lower East side meets a friendly man with a presence resembling a dead English poet.

A Polish immigrant feels her mind slipping away, as her surroundings and even her own body seem unfamiliar. After she's diagnosed with Alzheimers, she reflects on the importance of her memories and her past.

A creative writing teacher sits through a conference with one his favorite students. He takes us on a journey through the characters in the story, and in his life.

A linguist is called to investigate robots that seem to have created their own language.

A young girl suspects that she has a power ordained by God. When her mother comes to visit at her boarding school, the girl tries to use the powers to chastise her mother.

A young couple obsessed with syntax sets off to meet their favorite author.

Following her mother's death, a Chinese American woman relives her childhood days, halved between Catholic school and her parents' disintegrating marriage. She remembers her old ability to make unlikely miracles happen.

In Spain during the Francoist dictatorship, a girl's father insists that their family will never speak Spanish again in favor of Basque — a small act of political defiance that slowly changes their lives, until they can never go back.